Vikings select Anthony Barr No. 9 overall

Barr (6-4, 255) notched 10 sacks as a senior for the Bruins. He was regarded as one of the top edge rushers in the draft. After seeing defensive end Jared Allen depart in free agency, adding a little more pass rushing ability seems a sensible approach for Minnesota, which hired new head coach Zimmer to help turn around a sputtering defense.

The No. 9 pick originally belonged to the Bills, who traded it to Cleveland to move up to No. 4 for Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins. Then, Cleveland traded the No. 9 to Minnesota to move up one spot for Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert. In moving down one spot, the Vikings received a fifth-round pick from the Browns (No. 145).

This pick does nothing to improve the defense. Nothing at all. As a Viking fan, I absolutely hate this pick. Why take a ‘tweener that doesn’t help at linebacker, defensive line, or corner? Just terrible.

What a disaster of a pick. This guy is literally a clone of Everson Griffen coming out of college. What was the point of this when yp they have big money already invested into the two DEs? They better not think this guy can play linebacker in a 4-3.

The only other players I would have been as happy or happier with, at this pick, are Donald or Dennard.
Barr reminds me a lot of Jason Taylor, size and speed. Most of the draft experts had him as the #2 or 3 LB available this year. I trust their opinions more than all the french fry basket attendants trolling around here.

DEAR
mr wilf, pleasenext time you try to,or have your staff represent “OUR VIKINGS”. Please keep in mind WE CARE ABOUT OUR VIKINGS. stupid move to lose an instant 2ndry play maker for up front pressure. it’s our 2ndry that needs help , the front is good.
should start calling on us “couch coachs for advise ”
mean while ….
SKOL VIKINGS

Ouch! Cleveland jumped them for Gilbert and Min panicked and reached!
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Jumped them? They traded the pick to the Browns, they wouldn’t have done that if the Browns were going to take the player they wanted. They talk about this stuff before hand. You must seriously think the Browns decided to trade with the Vikings and the Vikings had no choice in the matter. Stick to Madden trades on your game console.

Ouch! Cleveland jumped them for Gilbert and Min panicked and reached!
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Jumped them? They traded the pick to the Browns, they wouldn’t have done that if the Browns were going to take the player they wanted. They talk about this stuff before hand. You must seriously think the Browns decided to trade with the Vikings and the Vikings had no choice in the matter. Stick to Madden trades on your game console.
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Because the Browns would definitely tell the Vikings exactly who they’d going for in that spot. That’s something that would totally happen. Because GMs love telling other teams their draft plans.

Ouch! Cleveland jumped them for Gilbert and Min panicked and reached!
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Jumped them? They traded the pick to the Browns, they wouldn’t have done that if the Browns were going to take the player they wanted. They talk about this stuff before hand. You must seriously think the Browns decided to trade with the Vikings and the Vikings had no choice in the matter. Stick to Madden trades on your game console.
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Because the Browns would definitely tell the Vikings exactly who they’d going for in that spot. That’s something that would totally happen. Because GMs love telling other teams their draft plans.

“Stick to Madden trades on your game console.” Indeed.
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Umm…yeah they do, if they’re trading back just a spot or two. Just to make sure they don’t take the player they want. If there’s just one or two players a team wants they make sure of this.

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Umm…yeah they do, if they’re trading back just a spot or two. Just to make sure they don’t take the player they want. If there’s just one or two players a team wants they make sure of this.

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And the Browns would tell the Vikings their plan….why? In this hypothetical scenario, we’re talking about the Browns wanting a player who they think the Vikings will take. Why would the Browns tell them they want the player they think the Vikings want? They would tell them someone they think the Vikings would pass on. I mean, this is common sense…..

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Umm…yeah they do, if they’re trading back just a spot or two. Just to make sure they don’t take the player they want. If there’s just one or two players a team wants they make sure of this.

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And the Browns would tell the Vikings their plan….why? In this hypothetical scenario, we’re talking about the Browns wanting a player who they think the Vikings will take. Why would the Browns tell them they want the player they think the Vikings want? They would tell them someone they think the Vikings would pass on. I mean, this is common sense…..
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I’ve read and seen several post draft trade interviews, and they usually go something like…”once they assured us they weren’t going to pick the guy we wanted, we did the trade”. The Browns assured them they didn’t want Matt Kalil and wanted Trent Richardson when they traded a couple years ago. It’s only wise to make sure you’re not going to lose the guy you think is the one for your team if you’re going to trade.

Speilman thought the Browns were trying to get Manziel so try were happy to make that trade thinking they could still grab Gilbert. When the Browns picked him, Speilman panicked.
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It’s a good thing Spielman called you and told you what was said and what he thought. Thank you for being the Vikings War Room insider. Heck, you have more info than anybody on NFLN or ESPN.

Barr is going to be used as the Defensive End with one responsibility, rush the passer. Robison is not a super sack artist. They need to replace Allen. Charles Johnson did the same thing for Zimmer with the Bengals and thrived. Barr is going to play great and get lots of sacks. Now get Bridgewater or Garropolo.

Barr was the 2nd rated LB in this draft, regardless if he has his hand in the dirt or rushing from the edge linebacker spot, you can never had enough pass rushers, I like the pick, its funny the trolls are like “Who? Or hahaha we will see whos laughing, this guy is a beast of a pass rusher and we needed help at linebacker, maybe a terelle Suggs clone. Labeled a top 12 pick many drafts had him going to Tennessee at 11, Hardly a reach… can’t wait till he meets Lacy an Rodgers in the back field

Zimmer’s a great coach, and definitely knows defense better than ANYONE who posts on this site, okay? In his press conference, he said he’s NEVER had a player with the athletic ability of Barr, even going as far back as his days in Dallas. Zimmer said he has no reservations whether Barr is too “raw” and believes he’ll probably be a starter. As far as Barr being a “reach” at nine, Spielman said when he traded down with Cleveland he didn’t want to trade too many spots because he thought Barr was a threat to go at 10 to Detroit and/or 11 at Tennessee. Lots of mocks had Barr going either to Tampa or Atlanta ahead of MN.

Need I remind all you Packer trolls about when the Packers traded back into the 1st round to take a LB who didn’t even start in college until midway through his senior year? A player that not many people thought was worthy of a risk in the 1st round….

Now, I am wondering about the future plans for this defense. I thought of Barr as a 3-4 LB, myself. I have to wonder if that isn’t what Zimmer is working towards. Griffen and Barr at OLB, Joseph on the nose…. I don’t know. Fishing for a reason for this beyond maybe BPA, which would only make sense if the board was stacked toward potential. Whatever. We’ll see.

The Vikings should have taken Manziel at 8 and taken Barr in the 2nd round.
Could’ve had 2 busts… ha ha ha ha ha ha
Another year in the cellar. I hope the Vikings extend Speilmans contract for 10 more years.
You fans must be proud.

If anyone paid attention, there were numerous hints the Vikes were going to take this guy, particularly when Paul Allen, who has inside info, touted him this morning. This wasn’t a panic move, but one that was planned out. My concern is drafting a tweener in a 4-3 system when there is already enough D-line depth. The Vikes must have some sort of plans that us every-day joes are clueless about. I would have preferred Mosley.

I love all the talk about reaching or how good/bad of a pick it is. What makes anyone here experts? Do any of you have credentials as a Scout? Are you in the war rooms hearing all the rumors about who’s taking who? Give it up already.

Anthony Barr is a good football player. Maybe not rated as a top 10 guy. I get that. But neither were many football HOFers. This guy can hit as well as anyone. The Vikings need a LB that can smack opposing players and rush QBs. Has anyone seen Barkley lately?

Then they traded back into the first round to get Bridgewater who by the way was slotted to go in the top 3 for most of the offseason. Because he has a bad day, everyone starts hating on him.

Hate all you want. Vikings had a good first round. I am no Speilman fan but for those of you who say “it’s their classic reac” I urge you to go back and look at some of their first round picks. Ponder was a bust but other than that, I’d say he’s done pretty good. Now for the later rounds, that’s another story.

Mind boggling, was he really the best player at #9???? So many options they had and passed…I have a lot of trouble with this pick! Horrible secondary and they pick a linebacker?? I don’t like Bridgewater either….Derrick Carr would have been better choice. Anyway, think there is too much hype about the draft anyway…..more often than not first round players are a bust and guys that become stars are late rounders….so maybe we can find a gem somewhere in the mix.

Spielman should have picked more wisely…like Datone Jones, Nick Perry, Justin Harrell and Derek Sherrod. Good thing the Packers have a general manager as astute as Ted Thompson, right? RIGHT?!?!?!?! All you filthy, nasty Packer fans who throw stones live in glass houses.

You ever notice how some teams (and their fans) conveniently forget 25 years of ineptitude? Remember when John McKay used to give his players nightmares by threatening to trade them to Green Bay? Aaron Rodgers will come to hate Green Bay just as much as Brett Favre did, to the point where he insists on playing for their rivals in a better city, just so he can whip the Packers.